I saw via a Google Alert that Visual Marketing was listed in Wikipedia…and my heart raced, could it be that our new book, Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Design and Images (Wiley) had made it into Wikipedia? Well, not quite…but the term is a new entry and their definition goes like this:

Visual Marketing is the discipline studying the relationship between an object, the context it is placed in and its relevant image. Representing a disciplinary link between economy, visual perception laws and cognitive psychology, the subject mainly applies to businesses such as fashion and design. (Wikipedia)

Now, our definition of Visual Marketing is the, “intersection point between design (the visual) and marketing (influencing buying behavior).”

Wikipedia includes references to author Susan Sontag and Italian philosopher Umberto Galimberti, which puts Visual Marketing in classy company. So feel free to add your comment to the Wikipedia entry and soon enough, our definition, and perhaps, our book will be there too.

You can find out more at the Visual Marketing Book website or follow the book on Twitter at @VisualMktgBook. Or order a book now. 

Let us know what you think!

For more information on the book, visit our new Visual Marketing website.

To read a QR code you need to download an app on your smart phone. (Newer phones have QR Code scanners built-in so you don’t need an app.) The phone scans the matrix barcode and directs you to a website, display text or email/texting message. It seems to have a lot of potential and it’s quite popular in Japan, but hasn’t really caught on in the US.

And yet, we see more and more of these funny matrix boxes in magazine ads and on websites. Lena West, social media strategist and CEO of Influence Expansion says there are many ways for service businesses to take advantage of the QR codes. She offers these suggestions:
“1. To provide a direct link to a lead generation tool like a white paper or a free report.
2. To provide a direct link to a brochure (PDF) — and avoid printing costs.
3. To help a video “go viral”
4. Add a “contact” QR code to the back of your business card to automatically have someone add you to their cell phone contact list.

Retailers can use QR codes to expand on advertising — you only have so much space on a page/billboard and to give special offers for people smart enough to use those codes — discounts for insiders, invites to in-store events, etc.

Anyone can use a QR code to track a specific marketing/advertising effort.”

To read more about Using QR Codes, 5 essentials for making your site mobile-friendly click here.

SMUG is founded by Lee Aase, from Austin, Minnesota. (Austin is also the home town of Hormel–the makers of Spam. Go Figure!) By day Lee is the director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Social Media. The fancy Latin motto is Suus non ut Difficile which translated means, “It’s not that hard.”

Students are called “SMUGgles” with a nod to Harry Potter. It is a label that reinforces one of the founding principles of the institution: You don’t have to be a wizard to get magical results with social media.

Lee believes that Social Media is here to stay. He has collected lots of examples of free or ridiculously inexpensive services like YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and WordPress.com, and shows how effectively these powerful tools may be with limited professional IT support. It’s a great resource. With SMUG you can work through the learning process step by step, until you feel confident using these tools in your organization….Or call, email or friend us and we’ll set it up for you.

Ever wonder what type of gift to give to anyone who loves visual communication? We’ve sifted though the catalogues and websites and identified these type-inspired gifts that celebrate the alphabet in various typographic splendors.

Visual communication is the topic on the WGCH Greenwich radio program featuring David Langton Co-founder of Langton Cherubino Group. Find out how Norman and David began their business…and learn about the often misunderstood value of designing effective communications. Greg Skidmore, President of Belray Asset Management and David Lehn of Withers Worldwide are the hosts of this weekly program about entrepreneurs which you may listen to below…or download for free at the itunes store.

Case Study

Our client Hanover Fire & Casualty Insurance Company recently tested new subject lines and creative layouts, in an effort to drive higher response rates and sign new policies. Starting with subject lines, they tried the following:
A: [Name], Do you care about protecting your Home or Apt. from fire?
B: [Name], affordable renters insurance
The first employed an emotional tone, while the second was based more on a value proposition; in this case, A was more successful.
The results of your split test results can easily be seen on the email marketing dashboard:

Hanover also tested two different visual designs. Both related to the company’s branding, but organized the space within the email differently:

The A layout performed best, and throughout the campaign, Hanover leveraged the same template but substituted in several different images to make each mailing feel fresh.

Conclusion
Throughout the testing phase, Hanover learned which combination of tone and style would get them the best results. As a result, they are more in tune with their customers’ preferences AND are able to drive more business.

To download the free IPO App, click here.